In our world, many college students are told to focus on finding their passion. Its almost like you are expected to be born with a genetic enjoyment of some particular career  if only you can discover it.

On the contrary, I would contend that passions  or areas of particular interest  should be controlled by us rather than be allowed to control us. Not a inborn trait, your interest in a particular topic will wax and wane with time. While passion is often treated as a mysterious emotion that cannot be guided, much of it is influenced by external variables.

In todays article, I will examine a few of the key factors that will help you generate passion on demand.

1. Look for the good

As you go about your job or your studies, look for the parts that you enjoy. If you keep a journal, write down at least one specific instance each day about a piece of your studies that you found fulfilling, challenging, or just plain fun.

When you give the extra effort to look for the areas  no matter how small  that you do find pleasurable, you will find your attitude to the entire subject shifting in the right direction.

2. Stop complaining

Just as looking for the good parts of a task will help you grow your passion, complaining will kill it. Even if you have valid reasons for frustration, simply complaining will not improve anything.

Only voice the complaint if you have a solution to the problem. Otherwise, dont allow your mind to dwell on the disappointments.

3. Become great

Not surprisingly, very few first year law students are passionate about law. No matter how much you might enjoy a topic, the learning process will be difficult.

As you become more of an expert, however, you will find your enthusiasm for it continually growing. Next time you start feeling burnt out on a particular class remember that the more you learn, the more you will enjoy it in the future.

4. Personalize it

When you find a topic completely dull and seemingly useless, go through the exercise of applying it to your own life. Either find a way to use the information in your current activities or think about how it will fit into your future career.

By grounding the topic in actual reality and fitting it to your own situation, you will find the topic coming alive before your very eyes.

5. Sleep more

As a college student you are probably at the peak health of your life and feel like sleep is a necessary evil to be minimized as much as possible. If you want to enjoy your classes, however, maintaining a healthy sleep schedule is crucial.

When you are behind in sleep, you will be more easily frustrated and confused  two key factors that led to a lack of interest. Next time you want to be more interested in a subject, try sleeping on it.

What are you most enthusiastic about?

One comment on “How To Become Passionate About Anything”

I believe that the 4th point is great.
I am doing a PhD which is…. boring, but it is challenging nevertheless. Thinking about how the new skills that I have to learn (writing) can be useful to me in the future no matter what I do, helps me find a motivation on what I am doing.